Archive for the ‘Zion’ Tag

The series on rural America continues. The goal is to give you ideas for how to make your trips into the various regions of this huge country about more than ticking off scenic wonders and tourist hot spots. Although America’s rich rural character has been in many areas replaced by suburban sprawl, it remains in more places than you might expect.

This and one or two succeeding posts begins a look at select road trips in the amazing region of the U.S. called the desert southwest (DSW). Check out the last post for an introduction to the DSW. Each time I travel here I find new detours and variations. Some lead to interesting but relatively unknown scenic splendors. But the best thing about these routes is they all reveal rural charms that are easy to miss if you stick to the main highways. So let’s dive right in, starting in the west and moving east.

Death Valley to Zion

Of course any trip through the Desert SW is going to focus at least as much on nature as it does on rural areas. This one is no exception. For the obvious reason of its harshly dry climate, ranching is more important than farming in most areas along this route. Cattle ranching in Nevada and SW Utah takes place largely on public lands. Once in SW Utah you are in an area of the state called Dixie. The town of St. George is large and bustling, but there are plenty of scenic small towns in the area to explore.

Scotty’s Castle is at the center of many of Death Valley’s best stories.

Ghost Towns of Death Valley

Start by traveling (if you fly in, from Los Angeles or Las Vegas) to Death Valley National Park in California. It’s one of my favorite places in the world. Here you can alternate rambles across sand dunes at sunrise and hikes through stunning canyons with a visit to a ghost town or two. They are what remains of the gold mining that took place here in the 1800s and early 1900s.

The best known example is Rhyolite, which is not in the park but very accessible just across the Nevada border. Beatty, the town nearby, will give you a glimpse of small-town life in the Great Basin of Nevada. If you’d visited Rhyolite in the 1990s you would have seen an operating mine, and you will see the remnants of this more modern open-pit gold mine in the Bullfrog Hills above the ghost town.

Feral burros, left over from the days of gold and silver prospecting, roam the Mojave Desert of Death Valley National Park.

A spectacular pair of ghost towns lie on the opposite, western side of Death Valley, in the Panamint Valley. You can drive right to the first, Ballarat. But if you’re in hiking shape I highly recommend heading up nearby Surprise Canyon, parking at the obvious end of the passable part of the dirt road and continuing on foot.

While it is a spectacular area, realize you will be trekking 10 fairly rugged canyon miles roundtrip. But if you bring a water filter you can carry much less weight in water than usual in these parts. You might even see waterfalls along the way depending on recent storms. Be prepared for thick brush in the canyon bottom. Arriving at Panamint City with its scenic brick smokestack, you’ll experience the real deal. It has a true lonely ghost-town feel.

One of the surviving buildings of Ballarat Ghost Town, the snow-capped Panamint Range soaring beyond.

One more cool “ghost town” to visit in the Death Valley area is Gold Point, Nevada. It is actually north of the park, but if you’re up there to visit Scotty’s Castle anyway, it’s not all that much further. I put ghost town in quotations because a half dozen or so souls live there with the ghosts year-round. You can not only see a historic old-west saloon, you can go in and have a beer!

The Great Basin of Southern Nevada.

Rural Southern Nevada

Traveling east across southern Nevada you’ll pass the glitz of Las Vegas. If you stay on the freeway it is a relatively short high-speed cruise along Interstate 15 to St. George, Utah. But consider a short detour north into the rural southern Great Basin. So turn north on U.S. Highway 93 toward the little town of Caliente. Turn south on State Hwy. 317 to make a loop back to Hwy. 93.

Take your time and you’re sure to see a sparsely populated part of Nevada that will make you forget all about the neon phenomenon of Las Vegas. It’s what the Great Basin is all about, what nobody speeding along I-15 could imagine. You can extend your detour north to Cathedral Gorge State Park, an area of badlands with cool little slot canyons. Some of the valleys where cattle roam are surprisingly green and grassy. Others are arid, treeless expanses, with the Great Basin’s characteristic long ranges shimmering in the distance.

On a detour through rural southern Nevada, some areas don’t look very desert-like.

And others do: badlands of Cathedral Gorge, NV.

Dixie in Utah

Not long after crossing out of Nevada you arrive in bustling St. George, southern Utah’s largest town. St. George is still dominated by its founders the Mormons, but nowadays it’s perhaps best known as a retirement haven. For outsiders, the town is most notable as gateway to southern Utah’s world-famous scenic wonders. Of course you can’t miss Zion National Park once you’re this close. But a destination much nearer to town is the compact but stunning Snow Canyon State Park. In this part of America it’s impossible to miss nature. But remember this series is about where the people of rural America live.

Small-scale farming & ranching survives in small towns along the Virgin River bottom: Rockdale, Utah.

There are several towns surrounding St. George that retain the rural character of Dixie. A drive north to Pine Valley features lovely scenery and the rural charm of this part of Utah. And even in towns just off Interstate 15, places like Leeds and Toquerville, rural character remains. If you get off at Leeds, wander over to the west side of the freeway and up the hill to historic Silver Reef, an old mining town. Also nearby is spectacular Red Cliffs Recreation Area. A very worthwhile canyon hike with a pretty little campground at the trailhead. If you drive to Toquerville, turn north on Spring Rd. to visit Toquerville Falls.

On the way to Zion most visitors race in eager anticipation past the scenic little towns of Virgin and Rockdale. The roadside scenery between Rockdale and Springdale is lovely, especially in autumn (image below). But once in Springdale you’ve entered the chaos of a uniquely American phenomenon: the National Park gateway town.

Valley of the Virgin River near Zion National Park, Utah.

Polygamy & Canyon Hiking

You can see where some of the Mormon Church’s most devout families live if you drive south of Hurricane (on the way to Zion) on Hwy. 59 to Colorado City on the Arizona border. Keep going and this is an excellent way to travel to the north rim of the Grand Canyon or to Kanab, Utah. Drive around the small town, which is called Hilldale on the Utah side, and you’ll see women in very traditional dress. Polygamy is still widely practiced in these parts. And as Forest Gump said, “that’s all I’m going to say about that.”

If you want to stretch your legs while you’re in the Hilldale/Colo. City area, there is a great canyon hike nearby. Are you detecting a pattern? A nice canyon hike is never far away when you’re traveling in these parts. Drive north of town to the Water Canyon Trailhead. You can get directions on Google Maps, but don’t think that means this is a popular place. It’s more of a local’s hike. The road becomes quite sandy and rutted, but you should be able to make it in a sedan if you go slow.

Water Canyon lies south of Zion Park, Utah.

After parking continue hiking up-canyon to pretty narrows and a small falls, where as the name suggests water usually flows (image above). A short scramble up the left side of the stream takes you past the apparent blockage and on up the canyon. The trail eventually ascends steeply out of the canyon and up onto the mesa above. Looking north you can see the southernmost temples of Zion. Extending the hike this far is for lovers of longer, more rugged hikes.

Thanks for reading this rather long post! This road-trip is definitely one I highly recommend. Plan about two weeks to do it. I’ve met people who have raced through in one week, and that’s including Bryce Canyon! I have trouble getting out of Death Valley in less than a week. Have a great weekend and happy shooting everyone!

The desert mountains along Death Valley’s eastern Nevada boundary light up at sunset.

A photo & travel blog with a difference: Instead of strict focus on photo how-to, gear and the like, I'll pass on knowledge about the places and cultures photographed. I believe the more deeply you come to know a place, the better your pictures will be.

My past careers as science teacher and geologist mean that I can't help but teach about the natural history of photogenic places around the world. But photography is not forgotten. You'll also see practical tips about where and how to photograph the destinations. And once a week, Friday Foto Talk gives photography tips and how-to on a selected topic, for novices on up to expert.

What you won't find here is endless discussion about me braving dangerous weather, terrain or wild animals to get the shot. Nor will there be cheerleading gear talk or marketing pitches. I promise to leave that to other blogs, of which there are many.

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